


Broken Fairy Tale

by TardisGhost



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe?, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Mystery, Time Travel, fairy tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21759532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisGhost/pseuds/TardisGhost
Summary: Little Amelia remembers a raggedy doctor she actually has never seen. She also is visited by a stranger every night, who has a gap in his memories and who tells her fairy tales about the many stars in the sky.
Relationships: Amy Pond (Doctor Who) & Original Female Character(s), The Master & Amy Pond (Doctor Who), The Master (Simm)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a standalone snippet from my other story Revery of Silence. However, it's kinda a separate story in itself, so I decided to publish this on its own.  
> You don't need to know anything about the other story to read this. (My regular readers will be as confused as you will be. So no worries. ;P )
> 
> It only was an idea spooking around in my head for a while, so enjoy the ride. There will be two chapters. (Second will follow next week!)

"Amelia Pond," he said, weighing the name on his tongue as if to taste every letter of it. "That sounds as if it's from a fairy tale."

The young girl smiled widely, nodded. She lead the strange man to her room, showed him the crack in her wall, let him listen to voices on the other side. Amelia had no idea what it was that he did, but a few moments later the crack was closed and a smug, albeit sad, smile was on the man's face.

"Hey," she carefully asked. "You have that machine. You came out of that, I saw it."

"Yeah. The whole of time and space is open to me, thanks to her." The smile grew even sadder. "What about it?"

"Can I come with you?" Amelia glared with wide eyes at the nightly visitor, her childish face not showing even the slightest hint of fear.

The stranger looked at her for a long moment, finding her demeanour quite peculiar. But he only shook his head and simply left without another word.

A name like from a fairy tale.

And this is how it goes:

Once upon a time there was a girl. She lived in a big house with her family. Her mother, her father, and her aunt came visiting them every so often. It was a good time and a great place to grow up.

But the girl named Amelia was not normal.

She had an imaginary friend, whom she called the raggedy doctor. This figure accompanied her throughout her whole life, and no psychiatrist or friend or family member could ever convince her that he wasn't real.

But maybe they were right. Truth be told, Amelia had never actually _seen_ him. Not in reality, that is. He was like an afterimage, a fading dream, a reverie.

Maybe she only held onto that image because she was used to strange things. Maybe it was because of another person that shouldn't exist and did anyway.

Ever since that night so long ago, there was this man. He never told her his name, but, as soon as everyone else was sound asleep, he often sat there on her windowsill. Like Peter Pan. Only that he was no child, nor did he have pointy ears.

Never did he enter her room, never did he take tea or biscuits from her. But the stranger told Amelia stories. And he had so many of them.

It were stories of the countless stars out in the sky, of creatures, horrifying and fascinating and beautiful. He told her of places that were so strange that she could hardly imagine them. He told her of wars and of crimes and of other things that were certainly not meant for a child's ears.

But Amelia didn't care. She loved to listen to these stories. And deep down in her little heart she believed them to be true. There was just something about them and about the man that made it impossible to think otherwise.

Some days he appeared to be incredibly happy, chatting with a smile and laughing a lot about the things he told her. But there were other days as well. Days, where he barely spoke a word, where he didn't want her to make light so he could hide in the shadows.

Only once had Amelia been able to take a peek at him during one of those times. And he had been injured, badly. His clothes shred and blood staining their remains. His eyes had gotten wide in what might have been fear, when he realized that she had seen it.

"Will you be alright?" Amelia asked carefully, and he nodded. It was then that she decided to finally ask the one question that had always been burning on her tongue. "Why do you always visit me?" And a bit quieter she added, "And why today? You should see a doctor."

The man winced at that, then looked confused, as if he had no idea why he had reacted like that.

"I don't know," he whispered. "It makes no sense to me either. I don't even like humans."

"But you like _me_?"

"I... don't know." He shook his head. "There is something missing. Something that should be there, but isn't. And when I'm here... it feels as if I might remember."

Amelia trod carefully closer and peered up at the man. In a few years she would call him handsome, with his blond, almost white hair, the goatee, the sad, hazel brown eyes and his favour for black clothes.

She stretched out her hands and took one of his into hers.

"Come. I can get Papa's first aid kit."

His eyes bore into hers, confused, hurt and so incredibly sad. With a lot more care than necessary he took his hand back and swallowed.

"I'm only a dream," he said, his voice deep and almost commanding. "I'm as real as your raggedy doctor. Whoever that might be."

"No, that's a lie." Amelia stemmed her fists into her hips. "I can see and touch you. If anyone is real at all then it's you, Mister."

A pained smile curved the man's lips. "I'm a bad person, you know that?" Somehow it sounded as if he was proud of this fact. "I did so many things that would make you hate me."

Amelia believed him. Lot's of his stories had hinted at these things, at a buried cruelty inside him, that he, however, hid from her.

But she wasn't afraid. To her he was nice.

"I'll be alright," the man assured. "And... if I might, I'll come back and tell you more. I see so many things each and every day. Sometimes it's years until we meet again. But for you it was only a day." His eyes closed and the same sad smile from before was on his face again. "No matter how far I run or where I search, there is no place closer to an answer than here."

"Okay," Amelia said nonchalantly. "I don't get what it is about me. But I like your stories."

The stranger looked up and nodded, then left for the night.

It was almost a year before he came back. Amelia had feared he really might be only a dream, like her doctor. But he wasn't. And when she ran to the window to open it, she completely forgot that she wasn't alone in her room this night.

"Hello, Amelia," the traveller greeted happily and took his place on the windowsill. "You grew, didn't you?"

"Yeah, children my age tend to do that," she answered sassily.

Both of them got aware of the third person the same moment. Amelia squeaked with her hands covering her mouth and let her eyes rush between her friend and the stranger, who glared at the second girl.

"Oh. I have a guest sleep over tonight." Amelia took down her hands.

"Hey!" the other girl chirped. "Is that the man you told me of?" She flung away the blanked and ran to the window to stretch out a hand. "Hello, I'm Geneviere Arkerson. But everyone calls me Gin!"

Perplex the man took the small hand and shook it slightly. His eyes wandered over the girl, her short, dishwater blond hair, the bright green eyes. A through and through unremarkable appearance. Only the fact that she didn't seemed to be afraid of him at all astonished him a little. But then again it was no wonder Amelia would befriend someone like that.

And then he felt it. The same weird sensation he always had around the red-haired child. As if there was something tingling inside his mind, waiting to burst to the surface, but with that second child it was even stronger than it had ever been with Amelia.

The stranger jumped from the windowsill and into the room, grabbed the blond girl by her arm and drew her close to glare into her eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Ooow! Let me go!" Gin whimpered, then swiftly stomped on his foot.

It didn't have the intended effect, but the stranger let go of her anyway when he noticed Amelia's shocked face.

"Gin's a friend," she told. "We go to the same school and she lives only a few streets away. That's all, really."

He shot a venomous glare at the blond girl, inwardly blaming her for everything that was missing from his mind. It was stupid, and he knew it perfectly well. But he just couldn't help.

From then on the visits got less and less frequent. The older Amelia got, the more it dawned on her how weird it actually was to have a stranger visit her in the night so often, even though he had never harmed her.

What Amelia didn't know was that the traveller now visited another child. He never sat on her windowsill though, and never told any stories. He only watched from the outside and wondered why the effect was so much stronger with this human. It could only mean she was connected to whatever was missing from his memory.

But, weirdly enough, something kept him from going too close. So he watched from the distance. Watched how the girl grew up with her younger brother,whom she seemed to love dearly. With a mother, who seemed a bit distanced, but friendly nonetheless. And with her father, who laughed a lot and looked so familiar to someone the stranger couldn't remember.

When the blond girl was maybe twelve he observed an occurrence where a bunch of older kids gathered to throw stones at her, steal her backpack and hit with fists. Gin fought hard. She was brave and fast. But they were many and they did not like that she was a friend of Amelia. The weird kid was not supposed to have friends. But Gin had never cared about that.

Now she sat on the street, nose bleeding, knees skinned, but still holding back the tears. Only one stubbornly rolled down her dirty face and she wiped it away angrily.

The stranger had decided to only watch, but somehow the sight made him feel uneasy. He made sure no one was around, hastened over and dropped to his heels in front of her. Only then did Gin flinch away and her eyes widened surprised when she recognized him.

"I can get you some revenge, if you want me to," the traveller offered. "They'd deserve it."

With every word he spoke the strange feeling grew stronger

_He should remember!_

His whole being was screaming at him.

But he couldn't.

A chuckle made him look up and into a dirt and tears smeared face. This girl there was actually smiling widely at him, mischief in her bright green eyes.

"I'm the one who got beaten up, but you're the one who looks as if the world went down." She giggled again as if this was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her. At the same time tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving traces in the dirt. "Ooow, ow," she whimpered in between laughs. "Ooow, damn, everything's hurting."

"Then why the heck are you laughing like an idiot?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I really don't." Gin took a deep breath and calmed down. She shook her head and glared at the man in front of her. "I just feel happy right now. It makes no sense, does it?"

"No... it doesn't. But nothing seems to make sense at all."

The girl lifted herself up from the ground and reached a hand down to the stranger. "Why were you visiting Amy so often? And why did you stop?"

The man looked at the hand, ignored it and rose to his feet.

"That's none of your business," he grumbled and turned away.

He didn't get far, a tug on his coat holding him back.

"I think it is." It was strange how this dirty face could look so serious and as if in charge. "It feels weird to be around you. And Amy is my friend. I will protect her."

"Will you now?" An amused twinkle wandered into the travellers eyes, and he decided to give it a try. "Alright. Get cleaned and bandaged and all that." He pointed at her wounds. "I'll visit when the others sleep."

"Okay. See ya!" The girl waved as if this meeting was totally normal and stormed away to collect her backpack from a bush.

He waited on the windowsill when Gin entered her room. How he had gotten inside was a mystery, but she didn't bother to ask. Instead she trod over and pushed a cup of hot chocolate into his hands. In opposite to Amelia she didn't leave him a choice in that regard. Wordlessly she stepped to her desk and took her own mug, before she smiled at the man.

"So... first things first. What's your name?"

"What makes you think I would tell?"

Gin shrugged. "Because if you don't tell me I'm going to call you dick-face."

The man laughed out loud and almost spilled the contents of his cup. "Well, why not. Call me... uh... Emil Keller."

The girl cocked an eyebrow and took a sip from her chocolate. "Sounds fake. But okay, better than nothing. So, tell me, Emil, who are you?"

"Boooring," he drawled. "At least ask interesting questions if you have to probe me."

Gin nodded and thought for a moment, before she asked, "Why do I feel weird around you? It' as if... as if I knew you. But that's not possible, right?"

"I don't know," Emil admitted. "There is something missing from my mind. It always has. But when I was around Amelia it felt as if I might remember. It's a lot stronger with you."

"It _always_ has felt that way?" Gin repeated carefully.

"Yah... makes no sense, right? It's as if I grew up with a gap in my head." He stared up to the ceiling and clutched the warm mug. "Whenever I turned around I was convinced there was supposed to be someone standing next to me. And later it was so... boring. Conquering planet after planet, doing whatever I wanted. But no one there to... I don't know... stop me? Fight me? _Try_ at least?" He shrugged. "I ran from a noise in my head. I did some pretty horrible things. Not regretting anything, but it still felt... _off_ that no one was there to do something about it."

"Ha! So you're a bad guy," Gin stated with a smirk. "What's with that noise you ran from?"

"Gone. My people tried to... long story. One day I was captured and then forced to build a machine. Then I learned it were my own people who tortured me and I decided to let them suffer for that. Destroyed the machine, sent my home planet back to hell... well... long story. But that's all."

"I see..." Gin sighed and glared into her mug, strangely unfazed by the prospect of her opponent being not from earth. "But if you always felt that way it can't be me whom you forgot. Well... in case your story is true at least. I'm rather sure I didn't grow up on your planet."

Emil grumbled something inaudible and placed his empty mug on the floor. Never did he leave the window, as if he was afraid entering the room further might get him stuck.

"What now though?" Gin glared at him, let her eyes wander over his appearance. "Seems like you don't age like us, seeing you look the same as years ago."

"Ah... no. First of all, I'm a time traveller. What is years for you could be minutes for me. But my kind also ages a lot slower."

"If you say so. But what are your plans? Hanging around me and Amy just because you hope to solve this puzzle?"

"I don't know." He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, pursing his lips sulkily. "It's the only clue I ever got."

Emil stopped visiting Amelia - or Amy, as she called herself now. But therefore he now came to Gin almost every evening. She had demanded to hear about his travels, about the universe and its wonders. And Emil found himself enjoying it so much more all of a sudden. Now it weren't only fairy tales, it were true events, and he saw that Gin believed them all. He also saw that she never judged his behaviour, no matter how bad it had been. Here and there she only raised an eyebrow or made a face as if to say, _my, you really need another hobby_.

But she never scolded him, never tried to convince him to act less violent. And therefore he stopped on his own. Not entirely. But it was suddenly less fun to be all mean and nasty, and he was more on the lookout for really intriguing things he could then tell her.

Time passed. Gin was sixteen now, but never grew tired of Emil's stories. Only one evening he waited in vain. She never entered her room, but also hadn't told him she would sleep somewhere else, as she normally would.

He waited almost the whole night and shot up when the door finally opened. Gin entered slowly and dropped onto her bed immediately. And then he heard sobs.

For the first time since he had started his visits, Emil moved from the windowsill and sat next to Gin on the bed. She shot up surprised, her tear swollen eyes wide. And before he could react, she had already flung both arms around his neck and buried her face in his shirt.

"What happened?" he asked carefully, his voice unfamiliarly soft, while he hesitantly wrapped his own arms around her slender frame to hold her tight.

"My brother, Josh... he... he's gone," Gin sobbed. "The police questioned us the whole time. We were all suspects. But... but..." She took a deep breath and retreated a little. "I've done nothing," she whispered desperately, her eyes begging him to believe her. "I would never..."

"I know," he assured softly and wiped some tears away with his finger.

He hadn't thought about it for a long time, not even for a second. But now that he was so close to her, the weird feeling grew a lot stronger. As if the missing pieces in his head would snap into place at every moment. And it wasn't only that, he realized confused. His hearts suddenly beat so much faster when he looked at her. How weird. It didn't make any sense to him.

He stayed with her, sitting on the bed and holding her hand, while Gin slipped in and out of nightmares. Eventually he tenderly pressed his thumbs against her temples, whispered some words she never remembered and made her sleep properly for the rest of the night.

The boy was never found, the investigation dropped eventually. Life returned to normal and somehow also didn't. There is no such thing as normal when a child goes missing. Gin and her parents learned that the hard way, although they all did their best to try.

The only thing that prevented Gin from going nuts during the first weeks were Emil's visits. Ever since that night she looked forward to see him a lot more than ever before. Maybe because he had been with her to chase away the nightmares. Maybe because in this short moment, when he had hugged her so firmly, something she couldn't name had changed. It had been the only time he had ever left his spot at the window.

And from then on he never did it again.


	2. Chapter 2

Time passed. Months went by, a year and another one, and maybe a little longer. The visits continued, albeit not that often. The man who called himself Emil was travelling a lot more now, unsure why he tried to avoid seeing the human girl.

But every now and then he had to return. He just couldn't help it.

This time it was autumn. Leaves covered the ground in a colourful blanket. He strolled through a park and stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Gin. She stood under a tree and glared up to the sky, lost in thoughts, her eyes somewhat sad and her breath evaporating in the cold air.

The scenery was calm, almost magical, and it reminded him of the loneliness he held in his own two hearts.

When Gin heard his approaching steps she spun around and her eyes widened in disbelieve at his sight.

"What?" he mocked smiling, "you think I can only exist on windowsills?"

"You were gone for over a year!" she let out and then sighed. "Did you even notice? Or was it just a minute for you?"

"Oh... was I?" He scratched his beard in thought. "Weird. I could swear I've set the coordinates earlier. But here I am!" He stretched out his arms with a wide grin. "Don't tell me, you miss-"

He never got the chance to finish his sentence. Gin was in front of him in an instant and wrapped both arms around his torso. Startled by her reaction he glared down at her head, and again he felt his heartbeat speed up unnaturally, as it always did around her lately. Without thinking about it he hugged her back and held her close, wondering why in the universe it made him feel so at ease.

"Hey..." she mumbled against him and then suddenly shifted in his arms to place an ear to his chest. "That's a weird heartbeat."

Emil chuckled. "I've got two of those."

Gin looked up perplex, but smiled. "Oh, heh, that's weird. I like it. You really are an alien, aren't you?"

He chuckled some more and poked out his tongue. "I sure am." The laugh caught in his throat when he looked down into those bright green eyes that were staring at him, this face that had turned from that of a child to that of a woman.

"You grew up," he remarked tonelessly.

"Yah... humans tend to do that," she retorted sarcastically and... blushed a little.

"Then maybe I should stay away from now on," Emil pondered, but found himself hating the thought. "From what I observed, humans don't like strange people. And having an imaginary friend surely is strange, right?" He winked, then snickered meanly. "I also bet your boyfriend wouldn't be so happy about seeing you with a stranger."

"B... boyfriend?" Gin now really flushed bright red and let go of him to turn away. "I don't... have one."

"Girlfriend then?" Emil laughed and poked her with a finger.

Gin slapped his hand away and shot him a mean glare. "Also not! Stop mocking me!"

"Just were under the impression you humans love to rush these thing the moment you come into the right age. Okay, okay, I'll stop." He raised both hands in mock surrender and grinned from ear to ear while taking a precautious step back.

Not without taking in the sight of the now woman that stood before him, his treacherous hearts unwilling to obey every attempt of being forced into a normal rhythm. Gin scowled and he observed her face, that was unremarkable but somehow pretty in its own way. It were her eyes that really captured his attention the most. Like a green flame they were burning, strong and determined. They could see right through all the layers of masks he wore, but without ever judging or rejecting what lay beneath them.

And those green flames were now glued to him as if she desperately wanted to say something.

After a moment she relaxed and smiled shyly. "I've got to run some errands. But... will you tell me a story this evening? I'm still living at the same place."

Emil took a deep breath and shrugged. "Maybe. I've got a universe to conquer. That won't happen on its own."

Gin's face dropped, the light in her eyes seemed to dim not only a little, but almost faded. "Oh. I... understand." Then she laughed a little, but humourlessly. "I became boring, right? For someone that lives so long... a human like me must be really dull to you."

And before he could answer, she already stormed away.

She hadn't expected him to show up. But when he really didn't, it still hurt. She actually had no idea why she was waiting in her room every evening. Amy already grew worried and Gin's parents exchanged questioning looks over the dinner table.

It was luck that she had to study a lot for university. It kept her mind occupied, but she also stayed awake until late into the night oftentimes.

This night was especially nasty. Winter had arrived, the temperatures had dropped quite a bit, but Gin still refused to completely close her window. Mostly because the air in her room got stale rapidly. But also...

There was a shadow rushing over the textbook she had just been reading.

Gin sprang up and glanced around just in time to see someone ducking away from the window. She jumped over, flung it open fully and blindly grabbed the first thing she could reach. Cloth.

"Gotcha!" she called out happily and tore a little to bring Emil into view.

He was actually standing on a tree branch in front of her window, both hands now clutching the window frame. His face wore a mischievous grin when he bent down to her.

"I'm a lot stronger than you. If I want to leave, I-"

Gin grabbed his jacket with both hands and tore at it. "Don't be an idiot," she giggled. "Come in."

She continued to tug at him until he gave up the farce and swiftly climbed inside the room, not leaving his usual spot at the window though.

"Hey, could you maybe help me with that?" Gin asked and pointed at a paper with lots of complicated formulas written all over it. "This stuff is driving me nuts. And I bet human mathematics is easy for you."

"It is indeed." He pushed himself away from the window and came a single step closer. "But I actually only wanted to say goodbye. I think it really is time to leave for good."

"Why?" She let the paper drop onto the table and hid her disappointment by turning her head away.

"Because I'll stir more trouble for you than will be good and..." Emil paused and cocked his head, then laughed to himself. "How weird. I never bothered about making trouble. Quite the opposite."

"Then why do you care now?" she mumbled sadly.

"Because... I completely forgot about the reason I actually came visiting you," he admitted. "It haunted me my whole life, but the past years... I mostly didn't even think about it."

Gin shot straight and approached him. "But that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Maybe... I don't know." He shrugged. "I just don't want to miss you more than necessary. That's all."

" _Miss_ me? That has to be a lie," she mocked, although her heart was suddenly acting up.

Could it be? Might he still be visiting her for more reasons than only to chase away his boredom?

Both stood now only a few steps apart from each other, their eyes locked in a little staring contest that Emil lost when he started to chuckle.

"Yeah, it was fun coming here. I liked hunting for new stories to tell you."

He said it with a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his gaze, almost as if he was making fun of himself for enjoying his visits so much.

And then it was clear what she had to do. Gin took another step and stopped so close in front of him that they almost touched. Her blazing green eyes asked the question before her mouth could, but she did anyway.

"Take me with you. Why stories when I can see all of what you told me about with my own eyes?"

Emil swallowed and his hand reached out to cup the side of her face with his palm. The touch sent a tingling through her mind, reminded her of something that never was and that she could not know, nor name.

"It's dangerous. And you humans are so fragile. What if you break?"

"I won't," she promised with a smile. "I might die one day, sure, but then I will have lived the best life of all. And..." She stopped and hesitantly placed her hand over his hearts, fingers spread out and then curling above the warm beating rhythm. "I wouldn't have to say goodbye to you."

Emil swallowed visibly and clutched her hand with his own. Something in his eyes changed. A mask dropped, revealing something dangerous, something ancient and willing to break and burn everything its way. "But I'm a monster. I will harm you. It might even be me who brakes you in the end."

"I don't care."

Gin shook her head, never loosing the focus on his face. She knew what he was showing her was the man he usually was, when he was on his own, and when there was no one to stop him. It wasn't new to her. He had never hidden any details from his stories, never even tried to paint himself as a better person than he was. Gin knew. And it didn't matter at all. The only thing she wanted was to stay with him, to be close and to continue to feel the soothing heartbeat under her palm. She knew he wanted her to be scared, to retreat and to run away, but instead she stayed and stretched a little towards him.

His gaze changed once more, lost the dangerous tough and gained one that was almost desperate. "But I don't want to hurt you, little crow."

She startled. Something weird shot through her, like a memory that wasn't her own but should be, one that belonged to her, but not to... _herself_.

"Why... did you call me that?" she asked perplex.

Emil leaned down to her, his eyes suddenly warm and gentle. "It felt right," was all he offered. He dropped his forehead against hers, their eyes locked, both not able to look anywhere else. "Are you sure? You can't come back, if you leave."

Gin nodded without looking away. "Yeah, I've never been so sure about anything at all. Each time you're gone I miss you so badly it hurts."

Her mouth snapped shut and she looked away. This wasn't a thing she had planned to admit, even though it was the truth.

Her hand over his hearts felt how they sped up, a wild drumming of four beats. Shyly she peeked up again and inched a little closer, leaned against him to feel the warmth of his body. He, who had stayed at as much distance as possible throughout her whole life, who was so much older than she would ever get, who didn't even like humans.

But now he leaned down a little more, his lips hovering above hers as if he feared any closer would wake them both from a long dream. Gin stretched only a tiny little bit, her heart so fast she could feel it pounding in her finger tips. They met, timidly, almost nothing but a breath, but it was enough to break the spell. He closed the remaining distance, moulded their lips together in a gentle, slow kiss. And in that moment everything suddenly made sense. Not with words, nor images or even thoughts at all. But the feeling that had haunted them both for so long now completely swallowed them, a fire of tingling electricity, too much to bear, but still not enough.

He could feel the connection snapping into place, memories bubbling to the surface, images that would finally bring answers to all of his questions. For one single moment... he _remembered_.

His hands wandered down, caressing Gin's shoulders, traced down and rested on her hips so he could hold her tight against him. She got more fierce, pushed herself closer, her scent and warmth wiping away each and every of those newly gained memories, before they could fully surface. He didn't care anymore. Nothing was important and would ever be. Nothing but this very second, this moment and this reality alone.

And he knew, sensed, that she felt the same. He sensed it, because she was in his mind all of a sudden. No, he was in hers. It had simply happened. Not a full bond, not yet, but their thoughts were connected in a way humans would never experience on their own.

It didn't matter. She didn't bother or care, although it was a weird sensation. He had long told her about his psychic abilities, and feeling his very presence in her mind was soothing and thrilling at the same time. She _wanted_ him there, wanted him close, and she felt how he yearned for the same with every second they were connected.

They never broke the kiss. Not when she reached up to loosen the blood red tie around his neck, not when he dug his fingers deeper into her hips, not as they slowly stepped through the room and finally bumped against the bed frame.

Only then did she gasp for air and threw a glance up at his eyes that were dark and hungry. For her. It was in that moment that she realized that she would truly have to give up everything to stay with this man. Every last bit of what she had ever been.

Gin smiled and tugged at his loosened tie to draw him down to her again, while she lowered herself onto the bed. He followed willingly, his mouth seeking hers, tongues dancing, hands roaming.

Suddenly he broke the kiss, grabbed her wrists and held them down to both sides of her head. There was a dangerous darkness in his eyes, accompanied by a devilish smile.

"You want to be all mine then?" he almost whispered.

She swallowed and a tiny part of her mind screamed at what a stupid idea that was. But she only smiled.

"I've been that all along."

Gin had to leave behind more than she had expected. It wasn't only the place, she also had to make sure that no one would remember her. Not in her entire lifetime would she want her parents to endure losing another child. And that meant she had to vanish completely.

It wasn't that hard. Emil was able to hack into all necessary files and change them accordingly. And after that he sent some kind of radio signal through the whole place that would make everyone forget her just enough. He tried to explain it to her, but Gin wasn't sure she entirely understood.

And then there was only one step left. Erasing her from the memory of the people closest to her. The signal wasn't strong enough to do that, so Emil had to visit them on his own. Not that there were many people. Gin had never been the most popular person and besides her parent and Amy there was no one who really cared about her.

"Are you sure they can't remember?" she asked when he came back from Amy.

"Of course I am!" A smug smile played on his lips. "My hypnosis is pretty good, if I might say so." He chuckled and pulled her against him. "This whole thing wouldn't even be necessary, you know. You could have just told them you'd move to another country."

"Yeah, sure. As if anyone would believe that," she snorted. "And even if. They would notice one way or the other that I'm gone. And I don't want anyone to worry."

"You've got a way too gentle heart. What again makes you like me?" He laughed and leaned down to her, enough to spike her anticipation, but without actually getting too close, eyes glinting with mirth. "You know I'm a bad person. Probably the perfect opposite to you."

"Probably. Mhm... no, I really don't think so, actually." She hooked a finger into his collar and drew him closer to her. "I think first and foremost, you're just lonely. And I very much intend to change that."

In a quick and bold move she stretched a little and kissed him. Not in a lifetime could she imagine to ever get enough of this, of him. And he responded eagerly, stole her very breath away and left her lightheaded and flushed when he retreated eventually.

"Guess I'll have to find a way to stop you from aging then," he purred happily and took her hand. "But come. First I have to show you my TARDIS. You will bloody love her!"

He rushed ahead, Gin in taw, until they reached a building that seemed a little off in regards to the number of doors at its front.

"She calculates her surroundings and picks a fitting object to hide herself as that," he explained. "At least that's the short version. Anyway... in with you!" With that he opened the extra door and pushed Gin inside.

She gaped at what she saw there. The interior was bathed in bright, greenish light, a hexagonal, complicated looking console in the middle, and the walls were lined with bookshelves. But it wasn't only the alien appearance... somehow, in a weird and unexplainable way, it felt as if she should know this place.

"You... don't happen to have brought me here before, do you?" she asked carefully. "I don't know.. and let me believe it was a dream afterwards or so..."

Emil laughed and shook his head. "No. I would remember."

"Huh, then it's strange. It feels so... familiar." Gin stretched out a hand and stroked over the cool metal of the console. "Well... I've probably watched too much Star Trek or something like that."

And then, suddenly, she remembered something about the day he had started his irregular visits. She turned around, stepped in front of Emil and glared up at him with folded arms.

"You never told me your _real_ name," she remarked with a mischievous smirk.

"Well, and I won't," he retorted so fast it seemed like instinct. "You probably couldn't even pronounce it anyway." Gin didn't break her posture, so he almost hesitantly continued to tell, "It's custom among my people to choose a new name at some point."

"And that would be?"

He straightened with an evil grin. "I am the Master."

Gin snorted and finally turned away. "Of course you are."

"It's the name I chose. But I don't care what you call me." He stepped next to her and grinned down. "I've taken on many names in my life. One is as good as the other."

"Master it is then," Gin decided and giggled. "It fits you perfectly."

And this is how this tale could end. Because endings have to be bright and happy. They have to leave us with a soothing warmth in our hearts and chase away bad dreams in dark nights.

But you can't ever reach the last page of reality. It's not possible to lay it aside like a book you no longer want to read. It just goes on, whether we like it or not.

They travelled through all of time and space, chased after danger and fun and chaos, wherever they went. The Master was not a good person, as he had promised. But Gin's presence alone was enough to erase his urge for misery. He had no use for it any longer. Which didn't mean that he was a different man, not at all. And on some days Gin was shocked and felt sick at what he did. But all she ever got, was a look that clearly said, _I warned you_.

However, these days were rare and far apart. And she learned to live with them. There were so many other things she enjoyed too much. Rushing through all of time and space was exciting and awe-inspiring. They visited places she could have never imagined, not even after hearing the Master's stories for so many years. And it was thrilling to not bother about morals or rules. The universe was full of different angles. What was cruel and evil to one person could be normal or even desired by a whole planet. Gin learned that there was no so such thing as 'good or 'bad', and that she had to define these things anew for herself.

Sometimes the Master mocked her for her kind heart, called her weak and silly. But deep in his hazel eyes, that somehow always seemed to reflect the stars above their heads, she could see that he admired her for this trait. And because she never lost it while being with him.

She showed him kindness where everyone else had ever pushed him away. Compassion when he had none for himself. She loved him like no one else ever had, and she knew he felt the same, even though he never dared voicing it. That was just the way he was.

"A galaxy for your thoughts," the Master interrupted her pondering. He stepped in front of Gin, cupped her face with both hands and simply kissed her as if he had never done so before.

Eventually she broke away, gasped for air and leaned her head against his chest with a smile. "I thought about how I never want this life to end. How I never regretted leaving. Not even for a second, you know?"

The Master wrapped both arms around her and hummed content. Near her he could be calm and gentle. A side he hadn't known existed in himself.

From time to time they visited earth. Gin never wanted to return for good, but she loved seeing her home here and there. Disguised or with the help of perception filters they also took a glance at what Amy was doing.

Gin watched with a smile how she grew close to Rory Williams, the shy boy who had always adored Amy. She watched how Amy continued to talk about her raggedy doctor from her dreams, and wondered where this figure might have come from. Amy had never been able to tell when or where she had seen this doctor. It seemed to have to do with a crack, but the Master told her it had closed on its own - completely uneventfully - years ago, and there had been no doctor around.

But this time, as they visited, something was very off. People behaved strange, aliens were roaming the sky, calling for a _Prisoner Zero_.

Gin insisted on investigating, so they did. And somehow they ended up in a hospital. Somehow they ended up chasing away the aliens and preventing them from destroying the planet, by claiming they had already killed Zero.

But they had been wrong. He was still alive.

"Silence will fall," he hissed through sharp teeth at the two, then his featured morphed and became that of Amy as a child.

"Uh, wow, that's scary," the Master mocked snickering, his Laser Screwdriver pointing at the small chest.

"Just leave Amy be," Gin pleaded next to him. "We can drop you wherever you want. But leave her alone!"

"No. No I won't! It has to be prevented!" the girl spoke. "But it won't. It won't and we don't know why. But this girl is linked to everything." It pointed at itself.

The Master and Gin exchanged a confused look, then suddenly Prisoner Zero cocked Amy's head and sniffed the air. "No... no. She is part of it. But you..." It now pointed at Gin. "You smell so much more like it!"

"Wh... what?" She took a step back and drew her knifes from her belt. "I warn you. Come near me, and you'll die."

Zero laughed out loud, the sound eerie and wrong out of Amy's small mouth. The Master rose his laser and aimed at the girl, but it seemed as if he too was hesitating. All the years of having been her imaginary friend had done something to him. And even though he knew perfectly well that this thing in front of them was only a copy, he just couldn't.

But he had enough. And so he did anyway.

Zero bent and twisted and managed to get away with only a scratch. It hissed and screamed and then transformed again, now looking exactly like the Master.

"You've visited her so often," his own voice spoke mockingly, "I know everything about you."

"Yeaaaah, right," the real Master drawled and found his nails surprisingly fascinating all of a sudden.

His own nasty grin was on the other one's face, as it melted once more, went back into being a disgusting snake thing. The Master shot beam after beam at the thing, but in its own form it was fast.

"Master, careful!" Gin shouted and spun around with her knifes to hit away Zero's tale, while the head was aiming at the Time Lord. "You ugly shit. Leave him be!"

The snake turned around and hissed, then shot towards her. "Yoooou! It's you! You mustn't exist!" it hissed hatefully. "They were wrong. It wasn't the girl. It was you all along!"

Gin evaded and only scraped the slick skin. She heard laser beams shooting, but was too preoccupied to shift her focus on anything else. It had only been a couple of years that she was travelling with the Master now, but he had trained her well with the knifes, so Zero had no chance against her.

As soon as it realized that, it morphed again into the Master, but so fast that Gin hadn't seen it. And now two of them stood before her, both claiming to be the real one, both not showing any sign of falsehood.

"Ahhh, you know what?" one Master asked the other. "It's easy to prove that I'm the real one. You might copy me, but I bet you can't replicate a functioning laser screwdriver." He held up his own and tossed it happily onto the air, where it performed a small flip and was supposed to drop back into his hand.

It did.

But in the wrong pair of his hands. Zero stared at him, and the Master could read in his own face what the monster would do. That thing truly had copied him well. Maybe too well.

He wasn't fast enough.

The moment he bumped against himself and sent him crashing to the ground was the same moment his own laser screwdriver fired. Zero lay on the ground, laughing like a lunatic. Like he had laughed when the drums had still possessed his mind and had driven him insane.

The Master didn't care. He threw himself at the creature, got his laser back and then there was no laughing anymore. Zero would never move a muscle ever again.

He spun around and sighed relieved when he saw Gin gaping at him with a puzzled look on her face. She never liked seeing him kill. But this time the alien had truly deserved it. He took a deep breath and smiled, but then stopped dead in his tracks.

"I... Master... I..." Gin stuttered and stumbled a step towards him. "Oof, that's not so good I think."

Only now did he see the small, still smoking hole in her black leather jacket. His hearts stopped both for what felt like eternity, while she bumped against him and then collapsed. The Master grabbed Gin with both arms and held her, his fingers brushing over another hole at her back. The laser had not been on a deadly setting, but it had shot a hole through her anyway, at the wrong spot, and now he felt all the wet blood on the leather, felt his hands getting drenched in it, fast.

They both sunk to the ground, Gin's eyes flickered and her face was contorted in pain.

"You can fix this, right?" she almost begged, tears in her eyes. "Tell me you can."

The Master took her shaking, ice cold hand into his and held her tight, not able to speak a word.

"You have to," Gin murmured. "I can't leave you all alone out there. You're rubbish on your own." She tried to smile, and somehow she even managed.

It was what finally broke him. He lowered his head and clenched his teeth as if in pain. His whole body was trembling and only when he felt a hand touching his cheek did he notice the tears on his own face.

"You will live," he brought out. "That's an order, you hear me? Obey." He dropped his forehead against hers, his desperate eyes glued to hers. "Just this once, do what I tell you, you stubborn fool."

She smiled. It was so him to react like this. "You can make people forget me. Can't you do that with yourself too?" she breathed. "Then I'd be nothing but a ghost in your head. No one would know I ever existed. And then..." she sobbed, but still continued to smile. "Then no one would have to cry, right?"

"You have a way too gentle heart, my little crow." Carefully he leaned down and kissed her trembling lips. "How could I ever forget you?"

Her hand stretched out to wipe his tears away, she stretched to find his lips again, because all she had ever wanted was to be with him, and the only thing she would want to take with her was his taste, his scent, the feeling of his presence all around her, cradled in his arms, everything they had felt for each other pouring into this one last kiss.

The Master stared at her lifeless eyes, no longer a blazing green flame. He trembled, cradled her and then cried out. He screamed his pain into the empty room, begged every god and devil he had ever heard of to make it stop, to bring her back.

And someone answered.

"I heard someone screaming. Are you alr..." the woman's voice stopped. "Hey... I know you. You visited me when I was a child."

His head snapped up and he saw Amy standing there, slowly realizing what she was actually witnessing. The dead creature, the blood, the lifeless woman in his arms. She put both hands in front of her mouth, eyes wide in shock and disbelieve.

"Wha..." Amy swayed a little and drew in a deep breath when she saw his devastated face. She took together all her strength, didn't falter, and instead sunk to her knees in front of him. "Who was she?" Amy asked carefully.

Of course... she didn't know anymore.

"No one," the Master mumbled and swallowed. "There is no one who remembers her. She's... only a ghost." His hearts clenched and ached when he reached out to close her eyes.

" _You_ do," Amy said, her voice warm. "That's enough. Thanks to you she was real."

Amy stayed with him. She didn't speak a word. Not when he finally rose to his feet to carry the dead woman outside. Not when he walked almost two miles to a beautiful little lake in a forest. Not when he stole a shovel on the way and also not when he dug a hole in the moist forest ground.

She was simply there and refused to leave him alone. This strange man, who had told her fairy tales in her childhood, who had, however, never even told her his name. She would not ask for it now.

When the day came to an end, when the sun set over the lake and silence covered the forest and the unnamed, fresh grave, he finally looked at Amy.

"Thanks," he muttered, and even meant it.

"Of course." She gave him a warm, reassuring smile. "You know... You can always come visit me. I enjoyed that. And... maybe it's you who needs someone to tell him a few stories now."

His eyes were cold and distanced, but she could see the sadness he was trying to hide.

"It doesn't matter," was all he said before he walked away and left her standing in the darkness.

He was the Master.

The universe was his and his alone.

Well, one day it would be. That he was certain of. They would know his name. Everyone would. When he would be done leaving a swath of chaos and fire, when nothing would be left but cold, black ashes and decaying corpses.

No one would be left to witness his victory. Not that it would bother anyone.

Again he had the feeling as if something was missing. Someone, who was able to stop him. Because on his own he never would. And that hardly could be right. It was too easy.

He hated easy.

It didn't matter.

The Master couldn't tell how much time had passed. It could have been an hour or a century, for him it was all the same. But one day he returned to earth and visited Amy Pond. For no reason at all. Or maybe he simply wanted to take a look.

She wasn't at home and it wasn't that late anyway, so he strolled through town and scared children and parents alike, lit a few waste bins on fire with his laser screwdriver, broke a few of those hilariously expensive cars those humans were so fond of. And in the end he found out where Amy was.

He saw her with a large group of people, wearing a beautiful white dress. By her side was a boy, you could hardly call him a man, but she seemed to be so happy with him.

The Master was always dressed for the occasion. He liked wearing nice clothes. So no one noticed how he slipped between people and helped himself with food and alcohol. Not that the latter had much effect on him, but one could at least pretend.

He wasn't aware of much of what was going on and only looked up when it seemed as if the bride and her parents would hold a speech. He didn't listen. But then some turmoil started, Amy rose with a serious look on her face, a fire in her eyes that could surely burn entire worlds if she had the mind for it.

"Sorry, but shut up, please," she hissed towards her father. "There's someone missing. Someone important. Someone so, so important."

"Amy, what's wrong?" her husband asked perplex.

"Sorry. Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid, I had an imaginary friend."

Her mother rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh no, not this again."

Amy ignored her and continued, "The raggedy doctor. _My_ raggedy doctor. But he _wasn't_ imaginary, he was _real_."

The Master glared at her. How odd. It felt as if he knew she was telling the truth. His hearts ached and he remembered the feeling that had followed him since he could remember. Of someone, who should be there when he had turned around as a child, someone, who should have been around to stop him from becoming a monster.

"I remember you. I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too." Amy said all that almost begging, her eyes wandered through the room, as if she was searching for something, and found someone else. "See? The Master is here too!" She smiled at him and he wondered perplex, how she could know his name. "Raggedy man, I remember you, _and you are late for my wedding_!" She shouted determined.

A few sighs were shared by the crowd, but everyone went silent at once, when a rattling went through the room, getting louder and more intense by the second.

"I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would," she continued smiling. "That's why you told me the story of the brand new, ancient blue box."

The balloons next to her got suddenly blown around by a strange gust of wind.

A blue box.

The Master stared at the woman. There it was again. A sensation as if her presence alone would be able to bring back what was missing from his mind.

"Oh, clever. Very clever," she mumbled happily.

Rory tugged at her arm. "Amy, what is it?"

She turned around and beamed at him. "Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue."

And then the Master could hear it. The woofing and wheezing of engines. And not just of any. No... that was a TARDIS, materializing right in the middle of the room! A device from the Time Lords! But that was impossible. It couldn't be! _He_ was the only one left.

Or was he?

Rory shot up and glared at the box, then he turned to his wife and spluttered out, "It's the _Doctor_. How did we forget the Doctor? I was plastic..."

But Amy was already on her way to the TARDIS. She plainly stepped over the table in her waving dress, knocked at the blue wood, and the Master could almost feel the vibrations running through the machine. Through himself.

_He should remember!_

He knew he should. It was right there, on the tip of his mind, waiting to burst like a bubble, but held back by _something_. Or maybe not some _thing_ but some... one. Someone he had forgotten, although it was impossible. After all, the memory was burned into his entire timeline, into his very being.

No, he had not forgotten. He had _decided_ to push away the memory, to bury it and make it vanish. Because it had been painful. Because deep in his hearts he had thought it would be easier if those two were missing from his life.

Because, when he had met Gin, he had gotten the second chance he had always deserved!

The Master sank to his heels and clutched his head. It still wouldn't pop back into his mind. He still refused to let it in, although he could feel how the timelines around him changed, how they rearranged themselves to fit what should have never existed, but did anyway now, brought back by Amy's words.

The blue door opened and out stepped the Doctor.

 _The_ Doctor. The one, who he had expected to see when he had turned around as a child. The one, who would always stop him from going this tiny little bit _too_ far. His best friend, his most hated enemy, his brother, his demise.

But that wasn't what caught his attention the most.

Behind the Doctor stepped out a second person. One with short, blond hair and flaming green eyes.

And he remembered.

He remembered everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are, at the end of the tale. Or, more accurately the tiny snippet of an alternate universe that existed while the Doctor was trapped in the neverspace.
> 
> If you got curious about my OC, head over and read my other story The Master's Game. And don't forget to leave some favs and reviews. I'd love to know what you all think about this!


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